Way of the Devil

“Sir… Liyang City is not far from Autumn Moon City, and if the lips die, the teeth will freeze. If they’re already affected by the Devil Disaster, it will not be far from us, either. They also sent a plea for help to the prefecture, but the quickest reinforcements will have to come from us,” Chen Jingzhi explained. “Also, Young Master Xie Chenxuan from the Xie Family already traveled over the rescue his older sister. He sent a message back saying that there are already devils gathering around Autumn Moon City.”

Lu Sheng took the letter and scanned it. He fell into thought. Currently, he was the strongest person in Autumn Moon City. Before, when the Mind-Controlling Devil Master appeared, the Turquoise Conch Agency did not report it. That was already surprising, and now that a young master from a prominent family accidentally stumbled across devils congregating, there was even more to think about…”Jingzhi, what are you trying to say…?”

Chen Jingzhi was very solemn. “I’m afraid that both the Yin Yang Agency and Turquoise Conch Agency are not reliable anymore. There are no news at all for such a big thing. Forgive my disrespect, Sect Master Lu, but please go to the Secret Area and notify the main sect to save the entire Autumn Moon City!”

He raised his hands above his head and bowed deeply.

Devil Disaster?!

Lu Sheng finally came to realization, and the fog that was clouding his heart immediately dispersed. Now he understood why Xiao Zizhu only sent a Yin form over. He only wanted to test him. The real threat was probably this Devil Disaster.

Xiao Zizhu didn’t just want to get rid of him, but the entire Autumn Moon City and Liyang City as well. He wanted to expand the territory of the Devil Army.

“I’ll try.” Lu Sheng had a bad feeling about their plan. Couldn’t the devils find a way to block this route to the Secret Area?

Chen Jingzhi straightened up, and said solemnly, “Thank you, Sect Master!”

Lu Sheng immediately closed his door and sat down on the floor, cross-legged. He started silently chanting his teacher’s name.

After about ten times, his whole body started blurring. Just as he was about to enter the Secret Area, a half-transparent black shadow exploded in front of him, forming a black bull with two wings on its ears.

The black bull mooed in a low tone, then exploded and disappeared.

Lu Sheng’s body solidified and returned back to normal.

He opened his eyes, his expression serious.

‘It’s only been such a short time, yet I can’t enter the Secret Area anymore… so this was the main goal of Xiao Zizhu’s Yin form! Apart from killing me, it could waste time to prevent me from escaping through the Secret Area. Ha! Good plan!’ He suddenly remembered that the ghost brothers spent a long time entering the Secret Area. Obviously, they were having trouble.

Lu Sheng finally completely understood Xiao Zizhu’s plan. ‘No wonder he only sent out one Yin form. His real form is probably maintaining the matrix to block the entrance to the Secret Area. With his Devil Army surrounding us, they have an infallible plan to corner and murder me…’

His heart went cold.

This was his first time—first time in such an awkward position. He had been used to everything going his way. He didn’t expect for there to be a devil so cunning and strong.

‘How to get out of this!?’ Right now, this was his biggest question. Lu Sheng understood their plan now, but unless absolutely necessary, he wouldn’t leave his family and escape. They also blocked the Secret Area to prevent reinforcements from coming. So, his only choice was to stay and fight.

Using his army to put pressure while his own strength was already above that of Lu Sheng was Xiao Zizhu’s real plan.

After thinking through all of this, Lu Sheng sat down cross-legged and organized his thoughts.

‘I am already a Divine Lord, but because Su Ningfei hasn’t given me any arts that fit my level, my knowledge of fighting has stayed at the Divine Weapon Master level. This is the biggest difference between me and Xiao Zizhu. Even my strongest form, the Yin Yang Integration Mode, cannot win against Xiao Zizhu, even though it is much stronger than my Extreme Yang Mode. There is still a huge gap.

‘There is no way I can fill up this gap in such a short time. Then the only way would be…’

Determination flashed in Lu Sheng’s eyes.

“You forced me. So don’t blame me!”

“Deep Blue.” At this point, there was no reason to keep saving Mental Energy. He needed to increase his strength as quickly as possible.

Before, Lu Sheng absorbed almost five thousand units of Mental Energy from the Devil Weapon, and now he got another weapon, Han Tuo, whose attribute was water.

Pulling out Han Tuo, the divine weapon, from his back, Lu Sheng looked at it closely. From the outside, it appeared to be just a sharp wooden sword. Parts of the handle were also corroded. It seemed no different from any wooden sword people would use to practice.

But when he held it, he could sense the huge resonating force within it.

Every golden leaf grade Divine Weapon had huge potential. Only when they exploited all of their potential would they become Rogue Divine Weapons, meaning they reached the level of Devil and Divine Lords.

To Lu Sheng, every Divine Weapon was a gift of a great amount of Mental Energy.

He checked over the sword body, then suddenly stuffed it into his mouth.

“Crack.”

A faint, ethereal shriek sounded.

White ripples exploded from the sword, but the gold aura that appeared around Lu Sheng blocked it completely.

His Infinity Technique was on extreme mode. Lu Sheng chewed on the handle. It was the same as eating any piece of metal, except this one had a faint, refreshing taste of mint.

He raised up the sword and took another bite. The white ripples twisted rapidly, sending out blasts of Power of Extreme Ice, creating layers of freezing ice on Lu Sheng.

But that was it. At most, Han Tuo could exert force equal to that of a Divine Weapon Master. Faced with a Divine Lord like Lu Sheng, especially since it was still in hibernation mode, its mind was still groggy from being forced awake so suddenly.

“Crack.”

Lu Sheng’s third bite demolished half of the entire sword. Numerous icy blue symbols appeared on Han Tuo, and a tiny triangular pattern that symbolized its identity as a Divine Weapon started spinning quickly on its handle. The force within the sword seemed to expand as if it was about to self-destruct.

“Crack.”

Lu Sheng forced the last half of the sword all into his mouth and chewed down. Large amounts of Mental Energy flowed into his body like crazy.

One hundred, two hundred, five hundred, a thousand…

The Mental Energy was like a stream, flowing directly into Deep Blue, into that mysterious hole within Lu Sheng’s chest.

He swallowed. Then, he glanced at that one box in Deep Blue.

As he expected, he fulfilled the next condition to level up his Infinity Technique.

While Mental Energy continuously poured into him, the Collection tier for Infinity Technique, the level that symbolized Divine Lords, could finally be leveled up.

He pressed down on the change button at the bottom of the cheating device smoothly. The entire box shuddered, then became clear again.

A level up button appeared behind Infinity Technique.

“This is it!” Lu Sheng cracked a smile, focusing his concentration, and pressed it.

“Clap.”

Nothing happened. The box for Infinity Technique blurred, then cleared up.

The Collection tier went from first to second level. There was still a long list of special effects behind it.

Lu Sheng was just about to carefully read through the effects to see which ones were strengthened when he felt the world go dim. A drugged, dizzy feeling consumed him.

In that instant, an inestimable amount of complicated, hard knowledge compressed from martial arts he already knew flowed into his brain. His Mental Energy dropped at an alarming speed.

He lost a thousand per second.

Knowledge, knowledge that was a step ahead of all his true arts and chants squeezed itself into his brain, ignoring whether he was comfortable with it or not.

Divine Lord, Devil Lord, Rogue Divine Weapons! Techniques! Auras!

Based on all the systems of cultivation he already knew, Deep Blue reworked everything to present completely new directions. After an entire hour, the information finally stopped.

‘Law… so the biggest difference between Divine Lords and Divine Weapons Masters was Law. If we say that Divine Weapon Masters controlled Divine Weapons and techniques, then Divine Lords, Devil Lords, and Rogue Divine Weapons changed themselves into Holders of the Laws. They ceased using Divine Weapons as a medium.’

The triangular deep crimson symbol of a winged cobra flashed in his eyes.

‘No matter if the direction I’m taking this follows the rules of this world or not, as long as I’m stepping over the Divine and Devil Weapons and reaching for Laws, it can’t be wrong.

‘Law… what is my Law, then?’ Lu Sheng’s biggest question finally separated itself after peeling off all the layers.

‘My Law…’ Lu Sheng remembered back when he was still underground in the Prime Devil Sect, remembered his joy at discovering the terrifying power of Yin Flames…

He lifted his hand, a Yin flame burning on it. The purple black flame was only as big at his palm, but there was an eye formed from golden flames in the center.

The yin flame was changing drastically as his Mental Energy continued to decrease.

The originally dark purple and black flames were slowly converting to pure black. The golden flame in the center was also glowing brighter and brighter, undergoing some transformation Lu Sheng couldn’t fathom.

This transformation didn’t seem to evolve the Yin Flame, but more like it was communicating something.

He didn’t know it, but his cultivation’s direction had completely left the definition of Divine and Devil Lords. Under Deep Blue’s guidance, it was slowly unraveling an unknown path.

Suddenly, the Yin flames in Lu Sheng’s palm seemed to reach some extreme, and exploded.

A sound like that of an opera singer resonated in the enclosed room.

The Yin Flame exploded. Large amounts of golden flames spilled out of the golden eye in the center. Those flames seemed to have left Lu Sheng’s control completely. They were separate from him, and gave off an ancient, majestic, and brilliant aura.

It was like a totem pole from a temple, or the mysterious carvings on an altar. Just by watching the flame, one could feel the waves of divine, majestic, and vast power rolling off of it.

It was as if it were no longer a flame, but a golden crack that led to an extremely divine and terrifying being.

“This is…!?” Lu Sheng opened his eyes wide as a powerful force rooted him in place.

His heart was beating at a rate he’d never imagined possible. All the energy and power in his body was trying its best to break out of this control, but to no avail.

There seemed to be no end to the power of the golden flames. This had completely left the realm his Mental Energy could create. Not just him, but even Deep Blue’s evolution was also forcibly paused. By evolving his Infinity Technique, Deep Blue seemed to have accidentally connected the Yin Flames to some frightening being.

“That is…!?” Suddenly, Lu Sheng thought he saw a figure through the golden flames.

It was a beast so huge it was indescribable. It had eight eagle heads, and was covered in pure white feathers. Its body, strong as a lion’s, trode slowly in the depths of the universe. Everywhere it passed, all the planets and black holes started burning with golden flames.

‘Eight-headed Griffin… the mythical beast that can swallow the sun whole, the ancestor that gave everything life. Everywhere it goes, heat and dryness along with life and reproduction will descend.’

Lu Sheng was dumbfounded. He actually accidentally connected to the original, true being of the Eight-Headed Griffin!

However, it didn’t seem to notice him. It flew off into the distance with its back towards him. But, just glimpsing the back of this majestic creature enlightened Lu Sheng to numerous theories and understandings about fire and flames.